Recipes for Disaster: an anarchist cookbook

rugby team with a bunch of fraternity members, don't try to bury that episode in the past out of embarrassment?^you might one day stumble across the perfect venture to invite them to join.

Above all, be sincere, reliable, and supportive with those around you, and patient and respectful with everyone you meet. Coalitions are built on strong relationships between individuals, and building these takes time and trust. If you are known as a good friend and a good neighbor, people will take you seriously when you approach them with a proposal.

When you set out to build coaHtions, it's important to accept the cultural, tactical, and strategic ways in which others' groups differ from the groups with which you identify; what matters is what you have in common, and what you can do together without compromising yourselves or each other. Similarly it's important to accept things people do in their own lives that diverge from the standards of your subculture. You may be a strict vegan who never buys from corporations, rides in motor vehicles, or sleeps indoors, but people who do all these things may be involved in projects that are at least as subversive as anything you've ever done. If you can put cultural differences aside, it will be easier to build the relationships that make coalitions possible.

When meeting new potential alHes?that is to say, anyone?don't tolerate disrespect, but resist the temptation to pass judgment immediately As time passes and you see people in action, you'll come to know them for the multi-faceted individuals they are. Then, if you still feel that something needs to be said about their conduct or attitudes, you'll be acquainted with their good and bad qualities and the context of their actions, and will be able to comment in a way they can take to heart?or, at the worst, at least you'll know you're doing the right thing by making a scene.

Keep in mind that every group is made up of a wide range of individuals with a wide range of ideas?not everyone in a union thinks the same way as the president of the union

local, for example. Don't assume that any one individual can represent the perspectives of those you presume to be his or her peers, don't project his or her views onto others.

Everyone is in a developmental process of his or her own, making decisions for reasons that may not be apparent from a distance. Trust that people know what's best for themselves, even when you don't understand their choices. Though you may not always agree with the ways people go about standing up for themselves, it's still worth supporting this wherever it happens?it is thus that people win victories, forge relationships, and come to learn from one another.

Take care to respect others' time limitations and schedules. People on the receiving end of capitalist oppression and repression must struggle for their own survival and the survival of their communities, and consequently tend to be extremely busy. Often the best approach is to go to events others organize, both to support them and to learn what their goals are and how they are pursuing them.

At the same time, keep your activities as open as possible, so if others want to take part, they can. Hold meetings at convenient times and accessible places, be friendly and welcoming, and make sure newcomers understand what's going on and how they can participate. Maintain healthy internal dynamics, so potential participants will not feel excluded, belittled, or oppressed.

How can you be a good ally to other communities? One way to get started is to get your own community together and active. In the long run, an entire community can provide more and better support to another community than any isolated individual ever could. Often, activists who are frustrated that their communities are not providing meaningful support to other communities throw out the baby with the bathwater, giving up on the possibility that their own communities might ever offer such support and instead settling for offering it alone on an individual basis. This is shortsighted. Your allies don't

Building Bridges

Coalition Building 187

just need your money, volunteer hours, or spray painting skills?most of all, they need the link you offer to an entire social circle of people similar to yourself, people who might also be able to find common cause with them.